LIANZA 2010 Centenary Conference Dunedin, New Zealand, November 28, 2010 Supported by NZ National Library and KAREN

1. Information Development Terrain:
Harvesting Knowledge Seeds
LIANZA 2010 Centenary Conference
“At the Edge / Te Matakáheru”
Dunedin, New Zealand,
November 28-30th, 2010
Supported by NZ National Library and KAREN
Jesus Lau
jlau@uv.mx / www.jesuslau.com
Director USBI-VER, y Coordinator, UV Virtual Library
Universidad Veracruzana
Boca del Rio, Veracruz, Mexico
www.uv.mx/usbi_ver
/ www.uv.mx/bvirtual

2. Topics
• Information development terrain
• Southern socio-economic development
• Harvesting knowledge seeds
• Information literacy opportunities

3. Fertile Terrain

4. Arid Terrain

5. A Competitive World
• The world is not a charity planet, it is a highly
competitive place
• International trade competition is fierce
• Developing countries need to be able to harvest
knowlege to take better decisions
• Southern leaders seldom come to a negotiating
table with background information
• Their information competencies tend to be limited

6. Cognitive Capabilities
Socio-Economic and political development
terrain is best advanced by people who
are knowledge competent,
and who are able to harvest the required
knowledge/information seeds

7. Knowledge Competencies:
Leaders Need Information Skills
• Governments need to know about:
– Competitors and potential allies
– New goods and products entering to the world market
– New technologies
– New entrants to the economy
• Information/knowledge is essential to compete
• Example: China has taken 20 years to become a world
industrial power, but Mexico did not notice it until now

8. 1
North – South
Terrain

9. World Social Stratas
Wealthy
Middle class
Poor

10. Wealth/Poverty Connotations
1. Income
– Gross National Income per Capita
2. Basic needs
– Food
– Health
– Housing
– Education
– Employment
3. Capability
– Information competencies / Knowledge harvesting
– Research
– Management

11. Developing Regions
(World Bank, 2009)
By Income Population GNI per capita
High Income 1,116,551,735 38,139
Upper-middle 1,001,743,859 7,471
Lower-middle 3,810,798,383 2,298
Low income 846,141,764 503
World 6,775´235,141 8,740

12. 2
Knowledge Gaps

13. Internet: A great Venue for Information
• Internet is opening access to information
• Great amounts of resources are available
• Some information aggregators are giving information
away
• However, low use capacity limits Information benefits in
Southern populations

14. Information Development in the
Southern Hemisphere
• Publishing is limited
• Scientific serials are just a few
• Nobel prizes are not from developing
countries
• Reference publications are also scarce

15. Information / Knowledge Chain
2. Packing
•Editor
•Databases/electronic
media companies
•Information aggregators
1. Production
•Authors
•Inventors
•Researchers
3. Storage/
Distribution
•Bookstores
•Libraries
•Information services
4. Use/Demand
•Researchers
•Academics
•Students
•Companies

16. Researchers
(UNESCO, 2002 - 2007)
Income
Researchers per
Million Inhabitants
High income 3,392
Upper-middle income 880
Lower-middle income 1,968
Low income 80
Canada 4,260
Japan 5,572
New Zealand 4,364
United States 4,663

17. Patents
(WIPO, 2008)
Income Applications Percentage
High 1´502,995 78.78%
Upper-middle 42,708 2.24%
Lower-middle 214,643 11.25%
Low 216 0.01%
Canada 21,330 1.12%
Japan 502,054 26.31%
New Zealand 2,594 0.14%
United States 400,769 21.01%
Total 1´907,915 100%

18. Serials
(ISSN, 2009)
Income Serials
High 1´512,265
Upper-middle 128,222
Lower-middle 70,452
Low 3,621
Canada 131,588
Japan 37,006
New Zealand 14,221
United States 203,463

19. Newsprint
(PPPC, 2005)
Region
Comsuption per
inhabitant (kg)
North America 31.6
Western Europe 22.9
Latin America 3.1
Africa 1.4
Asia 3.3
Oceania 35.8
Eastern Europe 5.9
World total 6.4

20. National Library Collections
(UNESCO, 1995 - 2000)
Income Units Volumes
High 80 268,223,412
Upper-middle 31 204,350,175
Lower-middle 201 436,403,858
Low 31 15,032,925

21. Public Library Collections
(UNESCO, 1995 - 2000)
Income Units Volumes
High 85,372 2´006,726,209
Upper-middle 125,578 1´952,377,176
Lower-middle 66,586 1´672,750,578
Low 13,249 71´746,452

22. Internet
(Internet World Stats, 2010)
USA, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe
66% Computer servers
38% Demand

23. 0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0%
North America
Oceania
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
Asia
Africa
World, Avg.
77.4%
61.3%
58.4%
34.5%
29.8%
21.5%
10.9%
28.7%
Internet Penetration Rates
(Internet World Stats, 2010)

24. 3
Knowledge
Bridge

25. Education Scores
(OECD, Worldbank 2006)
Country GNI per Capita
Reading
Score
Science
Score
United Kingdom 41,160 495 515
Japan 38,540 498 531
Canada 36,850 527 534
New Zealand 25,280 521 530
Mexico 8,730 410 410

26. Education - Development
• Education enables people to be better citizens
• It helps economic mobility of individuals
• It determines national progress
• Education access is a challenge
• Education quality is even a greater one
• Information development is related to education
• Education fosters information competencies

27. Learner-Oriented Education
• Fosters:
– Information competencies
– Knowledge construction by learners
– Life long learning
– Independent students
– Creativity and innovation
– Open-horizontal management
– Contributes to create a base for democracy

28. 4
Librarians’ Role

29. Communication Skills Constellation
INFORMATION LITERACY
ICT SKILLS – MEDIA LITERACY
LITERACY
ORAL COMMUNICATION
REASONING
Other
information
Skills
Digital
technology
Use
Use of
Communication
Tools
Use of
Networks
Sift media
messages
Analyze media
messages
Other ICT /
Media Skills
Reading Writing Numeracy
Other Basic
Skills
Speaking Listening
Thinking Skills
Definition and
articulation of
information
need
Location and
access of
information
Assessment of
information
Organization
of information
Use of
information
Communication
and ethical use
of information

30. Information Literacy:
A Must for Socio-Economic Development
• Leaders have to be information competent
• Workers need to be more knowledgeable
• Education for future citizens is focusing on learning how to
learn in information-rich environments
• New education models are based on inquiry approach to
learning rather than on transmission approach to teaching
• Information competencies are critical life skills

31. The Librarians´ Role
• Librarians provide essential expertise:
– They can be champions of information literacy
– Promote information use
• Librarians need to be:
– Knowledge harvesting trainers
– Learning information facilitators of their community

32. COP 16

33. Conclusions
• The North-South knowledge terrain is uneven, it can be
bridged by information literacy
• Countries require well-informed leaders
• Good decisions are based on good information
• Education needs pedagogical changes in developing
countries
• Librarians are information experts who can advocate
information harvesting in Southern countries

34. References
• Internet World Stats (2010) Internet world users by language. Retrieved from
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm
• ISSN (2009) ISSN Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.issn.org/2-22640-Statistics.php
• PPPC (2007) Newsprint Producers Association. Retrieved from
http://www.pppc.org/en/2_0/2_2.html
• UN (2010) UNData, A world of information. Retrieved from http://data.un.org/
• UNESCO (2010) UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.uis.unesco.org
• WIPO (2010) Statistics on Patents. Retrieved from
http://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/
• World Bank (2009) Gross national income per capita 2009, Atlas method and PPP
Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DATASTATISTICS/Resources/GNIPC.pdf